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Past and Present

@pastpresentsoc.bsky.social
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The Past and Present Society: making cutting edge social history accessible since 1952. Our journal Past & Present is published by Oxford University Press. academic.oup.com/past

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Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 14h
From the current issue: "The purposeful workhouse of England's Old Poor Law" by Susannah Ottaway (Carleton College) doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
The purposeful workhouse of England’s Old Poor Law*
Abstract. It has long been recognized that the English workhouses of the Old Poor Law era (1601-1834) were important precursors to institutions of the mode
052
Reposted by Past and Present
Ed Roberts @ecroberts.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
"The problem of the lack of papyrus [after c.1000] forced a receptiveness to new forms of papal government which the high medieval 'reformers' were able to move into and exploit from about 1050"... Absolutely enthralling new article by @cjg70.bsky.social and Ben Savill (Open Access). #medievalsky
academic.oup.com
Papyrus Economies and the Experience of Early Medieval Papal Documents*
Abstract. The medium of papyrus, a ubiquitous, state-sponsored product in the Roman world, was turned by the empire’s loss of Egypt in the 630s–640s into a
04818
Reposted by Past and Present
Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I really 📜 enjoyed this new open access article on the “Papyrus Economies and the Experience of Early Medieval Papal Documents*” in Past & Present by @cjg70.bsky.social & Benjamin Savill. academic.oup.com/past/advance... I just want aware of the papal preference for papyrus in the early Middle Ages.
academic.oup.com
Papyrus Economies and the Experience of Early Medieval Papal Documents*
Abstract. The medium of papyrus, a ubiquitous, state-sponsored product in the Roman world, was turned by the empire’s loss of Egypt in the 630s–640s into a
0275
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
New on advance access: "Daughters of the First Empire: Inherited wealth, surveillance, and Napoleon’s contested imperial power" by Netta Green (Williams College) doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
Daughters of the First Empire: Inherited wealth, surveillance, and Napoleon’s contested imperial power*
Abstract. Young daughters occupy an anomalous position in the legal landscape of Napoleonic France. While the Civil Code of 1804 reduced wives to legal dep
043
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
From the current issue: "Fossil Energy and the Ecology of Everyday Life in the Low Countries during the Long Eighteenth Century" by Wout Saelens (University of Antwerp/VUB-University of Brussels) doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
Fossil Energy and The Ecology of Everyday Life in The Low Countries During The Long Eighteenth Century*
Abstract. Why did early modern households bring the polluting energy of fossil fuels into their homes? For a long time, peat and coal were considered infer
040
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
From the current issue: "Making sugar out of opium: A narco-plantation regime in early modern Southeast Asia" by Guanmian Xu (Peking University) and Shohei Okubo (Ryukoku University) doi.org/10.1093/past...
041
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
On advance access: "Protecting Soviet Muslims: Muhajir Activism and the Minority Treaties, 1917–1934" by @roy1987.bsky.social (@uomhistdept.bsky.social) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
Protecting Soviet Muslims: Muhajir Activism and the Minority Treaties, 1917–1934∗
Abstract. It is a historiographical convention to view interwar debates over the protection of vulnerable populations through the prism of ‘minority rights
022
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
New on advance access: "Gandhi’s Voice, Mass Politics, and the Arrival of Public Address Technology in India, 1927–1931" by Kama Maclean (@unihd-sai.bsky.social/University of New South Wales) doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
Gandhi’s Voice, Mass Politics, and the Arrival of Public Address Technology in India, 1927–1931*
Abstract. Historians often draw on texts of public speeches in an effort to understand the politics of the past, while seldom pausing to consider if they w
020
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
From the current issue: "The Making and Unmaking of Religious Toleration in Spanish Manila, 1571-1755" by Adrian Masters (University of Trier) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
The making and unmaking of religious toleration in Spanish Manila, 1571–1755*
Abstract. This article traces the rise and collapse of religious toleration of non-Christian Chinese merchants in Spanish Manila between 1571 and 1755, off
052
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
From the current issue: "Reckoning and Economic Life in Late Medieval England" by @tomlukejohnson.bsky.social (@oxhistoryfaculty.bsky.social / @orieloxford.bsky.social) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
Reckoning and Economic Life in Late Medieval England*
Abstract. This article explores the practice of ‘reckoning’, a means of reciprocal accounting that becomes prominent in late-medieval England. Despite its
032
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
From the current issue: "Slavery, Prosperity, and Inequality in Roman Pompeii" by @profbernard.bsky.social (@uoft.bsky.social) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
032
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
On advance access: "Rumour, Public Opinion and Print in Istanbul, 1780s–1830s" by Avner Wishnitzer (Tel Aviv University) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
Rumour, Public Opinion and Print in Istanbul, 1780s–1830s*
Abstract. Drawing on Ottoman official correspondence, an informer’s report, and palace-sponsored tracts and chronicles, this article challenges the widely-
021
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
On advance access: "The Jewish Refugee Family and Concerns Over Intermarriage in Australia After 1945" by Ruth Balint (@usyd-humanities.bsky.social) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
The Jewish Refugee Family and Concerns Over Intermarriage in Australia After 1945∗
Abstract. Intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews was conceptualized as a ‘problem’ by the Australian Jewish establishment after the Second World War. From
032
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
On advance access: "Tibetan Gift-Giving, British Indifference, and the Erasure of Provenance in Colonial India" by @tibetcurator.bsky.social (@uomsalc.bsky.social) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
Tibetan gift-giving, British indifference, and the erasure of provenance in colonial india*
Abstract. In 1913, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet dispatched a lavish diplomatic gift to the viceroy of India. However, upon its arrival the colonial a
062
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
On advance access: "Involuntary Investors in British State-Building: Seamen’s Tickets and the Financial Revolution c.1700–1760" by Tawny Paul (@uofcalifornia.bsky.social) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
020
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
On advance access: "Abandoned Land: Muslim Refugees’ Property in the Post-Ottoman Balkans" by @vhtroyansky.bsky.social (@ucsantabarbara.bsky.social) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
Abandoned Land: Muslim Refugees’ Property in the Post-Ottoman Balkans*
Abstract. This article examines what happened to the ‘abandoned land’ of Muslim refugees in Bulgaria, Serbia, and Romania after the end of Ottoman rule in
064
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
On advance access: "The Colonial Metamorphosis of Egyptian Capital Punishment, 1884–1903" by Alaa El-Shafei (@yale.edu) doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
The Colonial Metamorphosis of Egyptian Capital Punishment, 1884–1903*
Abstract. This article analyses how colonial rule remade Egyptian capital punishment. Around the turn of the twentieth century, British officials deliberat
021
Reposted by Past and Present
Andrew Popp @andrewpopp.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
This is a fantastic, engaging article. I'm so glad I made the time this morning to read it. Jane Humphries "Microhistory and Women's Time Use," advanced open access in @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social
academic.oup.com
Microhistory and Women’s Time Use*
Abstract. Gender historians have pioneered attention to ‘doing words’ to identify otherwise invisible women’s work. Searches in court records for verbs wit
1235
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
On advance access: "Vernacular development, drought, and US technical assistance in postcolonial Lebanon" by Owain Lawson (Lehigh University) doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
Vernacular development, drought, and US technical assistance in postcolonial Lebanon*
Abstract. Between 1951–55, the US Bureau of Reclamation conducted research in Lebanon to plan a hydroelectric and irrigation scheme using Lebanon's largest
040
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
On advance access: "Bodies, Tides, Timber, and the Global History of London’s Docks, 1860–1928" by Simeon Koole (@uobrishistory.bsky.social) and @benmechen.bsky.social (@uclhistory.bsky.social) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
Bodies, Tides, Timber, and the Global History of London’s Docks, 1860–1928*
Abstract. This article examines changes in the bodies and environment of labourers carrying timber imported into London’s docks in the 1860s to the 1920s t
031
Reposted by Past and Present
Andrew Seaton @andrewseaton.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Excited for discussing some brilliant papers at 'Modern British History and the "Environmental Turn"' over the next two days. Thanks so much to @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social, @bshsnews.bsky.social, Lincoln College, and University of Manchester's Hallsworth Fund for making it possible
0163
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
On advance access: "Secrecy and sovereignty in the Age of Revolutions" by Katlyn Marie Carter (‪@notredame.bsky.social‬) doi.org/10.1093/past...
031
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
On advance access: "Colonial world-making and global knowledges at the early modern Cape of Good Hope" by @gianamar97.bsky.social (@uvahumanities.bsky.social) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
Colonial world-making and global knowledges at the early modern Cape of Good Hope*
Abstract. As the Cape of Good Hope was integrated into early modern colonial world-making projects, it came to be regarded as ‘the western part of the East
0147
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
On advance access "The Political Crisis of British Keynesianism, 1973–1983" by @colmpm.bsky.social (‪@qmpoliticsir.bsky.social‬) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
092
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
We were pleased to support "Poverty Dynamics in the Long Late Antiquity, 300 – 800 AD” a two day conference @staclassics.bsky.social in July 2026 Here co-organiser Ian Bonze reflects upon the event: pastandpresent.org.uk/reflections-...
pastandpresent.org.uk
Reflections Upon "Poverty Dynamics in the Long Late Antiquity, 300 – 800 AD" - Past and Present
by Ian Bonze (University of St. Andrews) The two-day conference Poverty Dynamics in the Long Late Antiquity was organised by Professor Carlos Machado and Ian Bonze on 22–23 July 2026 at the School of ...
185
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
New on advance articles: "The Politics of Energy in Colonial Suriname" by Chelsea Schields (@ucirvine.bsky.social) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
The Politics of Energy in Colonial Suriname*
Abstract. In colonial Suriname, a society shaped by slavery and indenture, the infrastructure and technologies of energy arrived as extensions of a colonia
031
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
New on advance articles "Microhistory and Women's Time Use" by Jane Humphries @oxhistoryfaculty.bsky.social #OpenAccess academic.oup.com/past/advance...
094
Reposted by Past and Present
Emma Martin @tibetcurator.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
From September 2026 I’ll be a @britishacademy.bsky.social Mid-Career Fellow! The project ‘Provenance and Empire’ builds on this article, giving me some precious time to think and write about the colonial erasure of Tibetan diplomatic gifts and the consequences of that for the present.
0101
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
From the current issue: "Air Travel, Statelessness, and the Rights Claims of Ugandan Asians, c.1973" by @riakapoor.bsky.social (@qmul.bsky.social) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
Housing and the Peripheralization of Race Politics in Britain, 1948–1977*
Abstract. The idea that there was a ratio of people of colour to white people that, if exceeded, would prompt a white backlash was a tenet of folk sociolog
073
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
From the current issue: "Housing and the Peripheralisation of Race Politics in Britain, 1948-1977" by @chrhilli.bsky.social (@sydney.edu.au) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
Housing and the Peripheralization of Race Politics in Britain, 1948–1977*
Abstract. The idea that there was a ratio of people of colour to white people that, if exceeded, would prompt a white backlash was a tenet of folk sociolog
000
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
From the current issue: "The purposeful workhouse of England's Old Poor Law" by Susannah Ottaway (Carleton College) doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
The purposeful workhouse of England’s Old Poor Law*
Abstract. It has long been recognized that the English workhouses of the Old Poor Law era (1601-1834) were important precursors to institutions of the mode
084
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
From the current issue: "Fossil Energy and the Ecology of Everyday Life in the Low Countries during the Long Eighteenth Century" by Wout Saelens (University of Antwerp/VUB-University of Brussels) doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
Fossil Energy and The Ecology of Everyday Life in The Low Countries During The Long Eighteenth Century*
Abstract. Why did early modern households bring the polluting energy of fossil fuels into their homes? For a long time, peat and coal were considered infer
020
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
From the current issue: "Making sugar out of opium: A narco-plantation regime in early modern Southeast Asia" by Guanmian Xu (Peking University) and Shohei Okubo (Ryukoku University) doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
Making sugar out of opium: A narco-plantation regime in early modern Southeast Asia*
Abstract. In the early modern period, while slavery became firmly entrenched in the Atlantic’s sugar economies, Southeast Asia witnessed the rise of distin
033
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
From the current issue: "The Making and Unmaking of Religious Toleration in Spanish Manila, 1571-1755" by Adrian Masters (University of Trier) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
043
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
From the current issue: "Reckoning and Economic Life in Late Medieval England" by @tomlukejohnson.bsky.social (@oxhistoryfaculty.bsky.social / @orieloxford.bsky.social) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
Reckoning and Economic Life in Late Medieval England*
Abstract. This article explores the practice of ‘reckoning’, a means of reciprocal accounting that becomes prominent in late-medieval England. Despite its
051
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
On advance access: "Protecting Soviet Muslims: Muhajir Activism and the Minority Treaties, 1917–1934" by @roy1987.bsky.social (@uomhistdept.bsky.social) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
Protecting Soviet Muslims: Muhajir Activism and the Minority Treaties, 1917–1934∗
Abstract. It is a historiographical convention to view interwar debates over the protection of vulnerable populations through the prism of ‘minority rights
051
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
On advance access: "Rumour, Public Opinion and Print in Istanbul, 1780s–1830s" by Avner Wishnitzer (Tel Aviv University) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
Rumour, Public Opinion and Print in Istanbul, 1780s–1830s*
Abstract. Drawing on Ottoman official correspondence, an informer’s report, and palace-sponsored tracts and chronicles, this article challenges the widely-
053
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
On advance access: "The Jewish Refugee Family and Concerns Over Intermarriage in Australia After 1945" by Ruth Balint (@usyd-humanities.bsky.social) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
The Jewish Refugee Family and Concerns Over Intermarriage in Australia After 1945∗
Abstract. Intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews was conceptualized as a ‘problem’ by the Australian Jewish establishment after the Second World War. From
031
Reposted by Past and Present
Australian Migration History Network @amigrationhn.bsky.social · 26/12/2025
🚨 new article by Ruth Balint academic.oup.com/past/advance...
academic.oup.com
The Jewish Refugee Family and Concerns Over Intermarriage in Australia After 1945∗
Abstract. Intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews was conceptualized as a ‘problem’ by the Australian Jewish establishment after the Second World War. From
0105
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
On advance access: "Tibetan Gift-Giving, British Indifference, and the Erasure of Provenance in Colonial India" by @tibetcurator.bsky.social (@uomsalc.bsky.social) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
Tibetan gift-giving, British indifference, and the erasure of provenance in colonial india*
Abstract. In 1913, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet dispatched a lavish diplomatic gift to the viceroy of India. However, upon its arrival the colonial a
093
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
On advance access: "Involuntary Investors in British State-Building: Seamen’s Tickets and the Financial Revolution c.1700–1760" by Tawny Paul (@uofcalifornia.bsky.social) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
Involuntary Investors in British State-Building: Seamen’s Tickets and the Financial Revolution c.1700–1760*
Abstract. This article investigates the relationship between government liquidity, personal credit, and state practices in eighteenth-century Britain, draw
065
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
From the current issue: "Slavery, Prosperity, and Inequality in Roman Pompeii" by @profbernard.bsky.social (@uoft.bsky.social) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
031
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
New on advance articles: "Black-on-Black Makeup and the History of Blackface" by @eadamovsky.bsky.social (Universidad Nacional de San Martin and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas) doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
043
Reposted by Past and Present
Lewis Baston @lewisbaston.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
This is full of implications and parallels from Poland to Palestine; the use of confiscated land from the departed Other has been a tool of state and regime building for a long time. I think the British are still a bit too Gladstonian in their understanding of the late 19th Century Balkans.
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Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
On advance access: "Abandoned Land: Muslim Refugees’ Property in the Post-Ottoman Balkans" by @vhtroyansky.bsky.social (@ucsantabarbara.bsky.social) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
Abandoned Land: Muslim Refugees’ Property in the Post-Ottoman Balkans*
Abstract. This article examines what happened to the ‘abandoned land’ of Muslim refugees in Bulgaria, Serbia, and Romania after the end of Ottoman rule in
01410
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
On advance access: "The Colonial Metamorphosis of Egyptian Capital Punishment, 1884–1903" by Alaa El-Shafei (@yale.edu) doi.org/10.1093/past...
022
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
On advance access: "Vernacular development, drought, and US technical assistance in postcolonial Lebanon" by Owain Lawson (Lehigh University) doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
Vernacular development, drought, and US technical assistance in postcolonial Lebanon*
Abstract. Between 1951–55, the US Bureau of Reclamation conducted research in Lebanon to plan a hydroelectric and irrigation scheme using Lebanon's largest
042
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Our latest e-newsletter, coinciding with the publication of our August 2026 issue (no. 272) has just been sent to subscribers. Check it out and subscribe (if you do not already do so) below Please share with your network pastpresentsoc.substack.com/p/past-and-p...
pastpresentsoc.substack.com
Past & Present Society Newsletter August 2026
Featuring the latest articles from the Past & Present journal and news and updates including events funded by the Past and Present Society.
042
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
On advance access: "Bodies, Tides, Timber, and the Global History of London’s Docks, 1860–1928" by Simeon Koole (@uobrishistory.bsky.social) and @benmechen.bsky.social (@uclhistory.bsky.social) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
Bodies, Tides, Timber, and the Global History of London’s Docks, 1860–1928*
Abstract. This article examines changes in the bodies and environment of labourers carrying timber imported into London’s docks in the 1860s to the 1920s t
0169
Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
On advance access: "Secrecy and sovereignty in the Age of Revolutions" by Katlyn Marie Carter (‪@notredame.bsky.social‬) doi.org/10.1093/past...
doi.org
Secrecy and sovereignty in the Age of Revolutions*
Abstract. Transparency, or publicity as it was then called, became a fundamental value linked to popular sovereignty in the late eighteenth century. Those
032